This invention represents a further advance in the development of apparatus for the transportation over difficult terrain or long distances of a patient or other load through the use of backpack frames worn by two or more human bearers acting in concert. The applicant holds two U.S. patents in this field: No. 4,087,030 dated May 2, 1978 and No. 4,168,793 dated Sept. 25, 1979.
A major shortcoming of previous inventions in this field has been the overall width of the carrying team in using the equipment and the rigidity with which the bearers have been connected to each other and to the load carrier. A primary object of this invention is to provide increased maneuverability to the carrying apparatus to make it easier for the bearer teams to negotiate narrower passages and more difficult terrain. It does this by combining use of backpack frames with a carrying pole flexibly and releasably attached to the frames by a strap or similar means. The pole is also releasably attached by flexible means directly to a load or to the frame members of a litter or load carrier. The load accordingly hangs freely from the pole. This apparatus makes possible a high degree of relative movement between the bearers and the burden in essentially all planes.
A second object is to eliminate the major fluctuations in the relative shares of the burden borne by the various participating bearers caused by the continual changes in the configuration of the trail. Such fluctuations have been an undesirable characteristic of previous rigidly-mounted apparatus.
The third object is to provide adapter means whereby the carrying pole and its associated equipment may be used with non-specialized backpack frames, making unnecessary the purchase of expensive specialized backpack frames.